Celebrating women

12 Business Women from I AM WOMAN will launch kindle books on 8 March, International Women's Day. The books are a mix of business advice and personal stories about overcoming challenges.Books are also a great way to boost business success

They say every heart has a story and by sharing your story you can reach the hearts of so many more people and touch their lives in ways that our grandmothers could never have imagined.

The digital world has opened up so many opportunities for us to create communities and build worthwhile businesses sometimes whilst we are still in our PJ’s.

Women's lives have changed, the early women suffragettes would be proud of what we have achieved and that via collaboration and technology our voices can be heard above the noise. Early suffragettes like writer Elizabeth Cady Stantonused the Declaration of Independence as a template for her famous women's rights document the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions

All over the world women have stood side by side demonstrating courage and persistence.

I AM WOMAN business clubs launched in the UK over a year ago with the intention of creating a community of women who could learn and share business and life experiences by walking along side each other, maybe not as loudly as our early sisters but certainly with pride in our achievements and our supportive attitudes.

Part of that community building and sharing has seen three women collaborate on an amazing project. The I AM WOMAN Kindle book challenge is taking twelve women through to final publishing and the launch their books on International Women’s Day on 8th March 2013.

International International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

The three women are I AM WOMAN founder Cheryl Bass and authors and book coaches Cathy Presland and Jacqui Malpass.

Cheryl Bass commented "All over the world women are sharing their gifts, in the US we have seen a phenomenal rise of business women and entrepreneurs publishing books and building successful on going careers from their many years of experience. In the UK we don’t normally shout out how brilliant we are. That all changes here."

The budding authors have been given advice and guidance from the book coaches Cathy and Jacqui designed to help them stay focused and keep them motivated.

Cathy Presland says "So often, people fail at the first hurdle because they feel alone with their writing project. With this challenge we created a team spirit which will carry everyone through the highs and lows of writing."

Jacqui Malpass continues "Our aim was to unshackle and release the creative spirit of our fellow writers, to help them to use their writing as not only a cathartic process but as a way to build personal confidence and to grow their businesses. We are all looking forward to standing side by side having walked a mile in everyone’s shoes together."

Some of the books provide business related advice, whilst others are personal stories about overcoming challenge, all are inspirational.

On the 19th March, I AM WOMAN will be hosting a celebration event and presenting the I AM WOMAN Kindle books authors with awards for their achievements.

ENDS
Further Information about I AM WOMAN;

1) I AM WOMAN began in Cardiff in 2011. Its business clubs are now expanding across the UK. The Swindon club opened in 2012, Manchester at the end of January and now Bath. A further club will open in Bristol in the next few months. Additional leaders are sought to launch clubs in other towns and cities.

Cheryl Bass, Managing Director of I AM WOMAN, founded one of the first enterprise centres for women, which became a model of best practice in the UK. She also won the title of being one of the 100 Brilliant Women of Britain for the work she did in the field of female entrepreneurship.

She went on to deliver key business development projects and initiatives within the private, voluntary and public sector. After taking a year out to re-evaluate her ambitions Cheryl decided to establish I AM WOMAN, which prides itself on being a heart centred organisation that reaches out to support women everywhere, to connect with them and to help them transform their lives.

I AM WOMAN supports women to flourish in business via
-Online and offline support
-Memberships
-Coaching & Mentoring
-Training

12 members will be launching books on 8 March 2013 following completion of the I AM WOMAN Kindle challenge.

Cheryl also sells franchises so that women can become part of the I AM WOMAN delivery team. This enables them to develop themselves and provides an exciting business opportunity.

Cheryl’s goal is to have I AM WOMAN groups throughout the world, ensuring female entrepreneurship is nurtured and grown, enabling women to flourish and make the contributions in this life that they want to make, in the knowledge that there are some "bloody great women" around them as role models and advocates of their success.

2) To arrange to interview Cheryl Bass, any of the I AM WOMAN club leaders, guest speakers or Magazine editor Jacqui Malpass or for further information, please contact Susan Brookes-Morris of Positive Publicity on 07890 051638 or email her at: info@positivepublicity.biz.

International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe. Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women’s movement has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.

International Women's Day (IWD) was honoured for the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March 1911. The March 19 date was chosen because it commemorated the day that the Prussian king promised to introduce votes for women in 1848. The promise gave hope for equality but it was a promise that he failed to keep. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. In 1913 International Women's Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date ever since.

Increasingly, International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still on average, receive between 30 and 40 percent less pay than men earn for the same work. There are still not equal numbers of women in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. Rape and domestic violence are listed as significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide The majority of the world's 1.3 billion absolute poor are women.

IWD is an official holiday in many countries around the world. In some of these, tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother's Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

A global web of rich and diverse local activities connects women from all around the world on IWD ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women's craft markets, theatre performances, fashion parades and more.

http://www.internationalwomensday.com alone says the UK has 343 events to mark International Womens Day 2013. Many more are listed on eventbrite and numerous local events take place without advertising.

Women, including political, community, and business leaders, as well as leading educators, inventors, entrepreneurs, and television personalities, are usually invited to speak at various events on the day. Such events may include seminars, conferences, luncheons, dinners or breakfasts. The messages given at these events often focus on themes such as innovation, the portrayal of women in the media, or the importance of education and career opportunities. Several UK universities are holding a series of special lectures and events.

Many students in schools and colleges will participate in special lessons, debates or presentations about the importance of women in society, their influence, and issues that affect them. In some countries school children bring gifts to their female teachers. Many of the UK events will raise money to assist children in developing countries to attend school, whilst others will raise funds to help women start their own sustainable businesses or to help charities who work with abused women.

Global corporations have also started to more actively support IWD by running their own internal events and through supporting external ones. Year on year IWD is increasing in status. The United States even designates the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'.

The UN’s declared theme for IWD 2013 is ‘A promise is a promise’: Time for action to end violence against women. IWD is also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.

The UN drew global attention to women's concerns in 1975 by calling for an International Women's Year. It also convened the first conference on women in Mexico City that year. The UN General Assembly then invited member states to proclaim March 8 as the UN Day for Women's Rights and International Peace in 1977. The day aimed to help nations worldwide eliminate discrimination against women. It also focused on helping women gain full and equal participation in global development. International Men’s Day is also celebrated on November 19 each year.